Top Tourist Spots of Zamboanga Peninsula
RIZAL PARK AND SHRINE
HISTORY: The José Rizal
Memorial Protected Landscape,
also known as the Rizal Park and
Shrine, is a protected
landscape and memorial to
the Philippines' national hero
located in the city of Dapitan on
the island of Mindanao. It
preserves the farm site
in barrio Talisay where José
Rizal was exiled for four years from 1892-1896 after being accused of sedition and plotting
the Philippine revolution in Manila by the Spanish colonial authorities. The protected area
was established in 1940 as the Rizal National Park covering an initial area of 10 hectares (25
acres) through Proclamation No. 616 signed by President Manuel Luis Quezon. In 2000, it
was enlarged to its present size of 439 hectares (1,080 acres) with a buffer zone of 15
hectares (37 acres) and was declared a protected landscape under the National Integrated
Protected Areas System through Proclamation No. 279.
The José Rizal Memorial Protected Landscape occupies a hilly peninsula facing the Dapitan
Bay in Zamboanga del Norte. It is located in the seaside barangay of Talisay, about a
kilometer northwest from the Dapitan city proper.
DIPOLOG SUNSET BOULEVARD
HISTORY: Dipolog Sunset Boulevard, or Foreshore Development and Wellness Center, is
an esplanade in Dipolog, Philippines along a 1.6 kilometers stretch of foreshore spanning
from Sta. Cruz of Barangay Central to
Purok Bularan of Barangay Miputak. It
is equipped with basketball courts and
playground part. It is also the site of the
annual "Pagsalabuk Festival" and
motor company trade shows. There are
two commercial buildings augmenting
the presently existing restaurants, bars,
and several food and beverage
peddlers.
Extension is currently underway to
extend the boulevard for another
kilometer reaching the seaport of Galas making it a total of 2.6 kilometers. Long term plans
for the boulevard is extending it in both ways of the city to southern part of Olingan and
northern part of Barra creating a new river park esplanade. Also included for foreshore
development are areas of Minaog and Sicayab that goes beyond the Dipolog Airport.
CCSS1/SSM2: Philippine Geography – Region IX
Top Tourist Spots of Zamboanga Peninsula
FORT PILAR
HISTORY: The Real Fuerza de
Nuestra Señora del Pilar de
Zaragoza (Royal Fort of Our Lady
of the Pillar of Zaragoza), also Fort
Pilar, is a 17th-century military
defense fortress built by
the Spanish colonial
government in Zamboanga
City, Philippines. The fort, which is
now a regional museum of
the National Museum of the
Philippines, is a major landmark of the city and symbol of its cultural heritage. Outside the
eastern wall is a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the city.
In 1635, upon the requests of the Jesuit missionaries and Bishop Fray Pedro of Cebu,
the Spanish governor of the Philippines Juan Cerezo de Salamanca (1633–1635) approved
the building of a stone fort in defense against pirates and raiders of the sultans of Mindanao
and Jolo. The cornerstone of the fort, originally called Real Fuerza de San José (Royal Fort
of Saint Joseph), was laid by Melchor de Vera, a Jesuit priest-engineer, on June 23, 1635,
which also marks the founding of Zamboanga as a city, then known as Jambangan.
The construction of the early fort continued within the governorship of Sebastián Hurtado de
Corcuera (1635–1644), ex-governor of Panama. Because of insufficient manpower, laborers
from Cavite, Cebu, Bohol, and Panay had to be imported to help the Spaniards and Mexicans
in the construction of the fort. This period also marks the beginning of the Zamboangueño
Chavacano as a pidgin that eventually developed into a full-fledged creole
language for Zamboangueños.
CCSS1/SSM2: Philippine Geography – Region IX
